On an annual basis, the country's emissions reached 550.4 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent, excluding land use changes such as land clearing. That tally was up 1 per cent from a year earlier.

For the March quarter alone, the 138.3 million tonnes - again excluding land use changes - was the most for any quarter since at least 2001-02. If land clearing is taken into account, the total is the most since September 2005.